This is copied from LLNOE, so the judgement statement isn't geared towards my friends here... We are where we are. Getting ahead, but not quickly, and that is ok with me, as long as we are moving forward. It is good to know where you are and move from there, because if you jump too fast, you don't stick with it. I want to be in this for the long haul, and it means my families deprovation needs to come in steps.
I would like to ask for no judgement on the way we live or what we spend our cash on at this point. Aside from ignoring Don's last (and recent) pay raise and putting that towards debt, I am not adjusting our way of life much yet. I am just doing what I normally do and writing it all down, trying to get it as static as possible so I can plan ahead. The more we get this budget thing streamlined, the more we can squeeze out of it to put towards savings and debt, so my goal is the streamline at this point...
So these are our outgoing expences at this point:
Monthly (give or take):
Rent
Water/Sewer
Garbage
Electricity
Van payment
Jetta payment
Auto Ins (4 mos on, 2 mos off)
CC (Discover)
CC (WSECU)
CC (City Bank)
CC (Best Buy)
Internet Access
Internet Subscription (WOW)
Entertainment (Blockbuster Movie Pass and eating out)
Groceries
Dry Cleaning
Homeschool (outings and supplies)
Gasoline (Van)
Gasoline and petty cash (Jetta and Don)
Phones
Tanning (4 wk clusters, I have SADD, it helps. Not an apperance thing.)
Clothing and shoes
Gifting and charity
horseback riding lessons (every 4 wks, starting again in Feb)
My petty cash
Bulk:
Diapers and wipes (8 wks)
Monsters (6 wks)
CSA (yearly)
Meat (yearly)
Chicken Supplies (6 wks)
Monthly stock up groceries (monthly bulk trips)
Yearly things:
Jetta tabs
Van Tabs
Tax accountant
Accounts that I fill and then leave unless they are used:
Boy Scouts
Oil Changes (we bought 2 years worth ahead last tax return... so we are good for over another year)
Car repairs
Anything I forgot? Do you guys set aside budgeting areas for copays (which for us would be about $5 a month... maybe. We don't do doctors.) or Date Nights (we usually do it when we have paid everything else and still have some left over after the snowball... lol)?
The reason petty cash and Don's gas is together is because that is all the cash I give him. Any thing else needs to be written into the budget. He needs a tank of gas a week usually (about $40) and so usually ends up with $20 -$25 for "petty cash" for his eating out, a monthly (about) cigar, etc. They are lumped together because it is money out of my hands and my control. lol... and they are always cash. No checks written for it, etc... so I just hand him $100 on pay day, and that is all he gets. Sounds militant, but it works for us.
Any tips, or ideas?